Cal Lutheran women’s tennis began their weekend with a 6-3 win against La Verne University on April 15, before facing off with the nationally-ranked team at Pomona-Pitzer College in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match on April 16 at the Poulson Tennis Center.

According to the CLU Sports website, Rebecca Gold and Christie Kurdys won their doubles match by a score of 8-2. In singles, sophomore Giana Cupo, freshman Sarah Seeman and sophomore Annette Sousa won their matches en route to the overall victory over the Leopards.

The Regals then fought hard on their home turf against No. 3-ranked Pomona-Pitzer. Cal Lutheran played an eight game pro-set, starting with doubles and then singles before getting swept 9-0.

Assistant coach of the Cal Lutheran’s women’s tennis team, Chad Colby, said it’s good to have tough competition.

“Pomona is one of the top ranked teams in the nation, they were at one time early in the year No. 1 in the nation, so it is a very tough match today, but our girls are competing very hard like they have all year, they’re hanging tough,” Colby said. “The whole goal of it, is what can they learn from every match on the court, whether they win or lose, whether the match was easy or tough. It’s just a building block for other matches down the road.”

Cal Lutheran’s women’s tennis is ranked No. 12 in the West Region, according to the NCAA.

Colby said that while the team wants to win matches, its overall goal is to improve the player’s lives through their collegiate sport so that they are better people by the end of their college experience.

Cal Lutheran team members  Cupo and junior Emily Werman played a close match in doubles. They scored an 8-4 at No.1, doing their best to stay close behind throughout the whole series before losing 8-5.

Sophomore Nicole Neumann and senior Rebecca Drake believed their teammate Werman deserved recognition for her hard work during her matches on April 16.

“Emily is one of those people who will play a three hour match and will be willing to keep going. She has the most passion on the team, she has the most love of the sport than anybody, she feels at home on the court,” Neumann said.

Both players agreed that Werman is the most passionate player on the team, drawing inspiration from defeat.

As a senior, Drake said she believes she has seen the team get better every year.

“We have a very strong team this year, stronger than in years past… I think we’re doing the best we’ve done in quite some time, we improve every year,” Drake said.

Cal Lutheran put up a battle, but lost all six single matches. Cupo hung close in match No.1 before being defeated 6-3, 7-5 and freshman Seeman was defeated at No. 2 by a score of 6-3, 6-2. Gold also had one of the highest scores despite her defeat, finishing 6-3 at No.5.

Cal Lutheran women’s tennis is slated to compete in the Ojai Tournament starting on April 21.

Taylor Rowlands
Staff Writer
Published April 20th, 2016